Page 75 of The Lady is Trouble
Chapter 19
I hid my love to my despite, till I could not bear to look at light.
~John Clare
The collapseof her exquisite love affair began on an otherwise typical rainy English day.
After breakfast, she met with Edward, who had come along nicely in their weeks of working together. He still foretold the future, but he’d learned to manage his anxiety, in part, by keeping a journal. Some of his dreams were innocuous, the usual imaginings of a young man—a seamstress in the rookery he’d taken a fancy to—but some had more significant implications. Those she suggested he discuss with Julian and Humphrey. Only two instances made her breath catch. One, a dream about Finn as a grown man residing in a gaming hell.
The other about her.
In this one, Piper faced what Edward termed a challenger. A female with long, black hair. He compared the sight of them facing off to Finn and Julian fencing. A competition, charged and intense.
This dream she told Edwardshewould discuss with Julian.
Something she had yet to do.
Because, at certain times, the look on his face…
She might be winning the battle to secure his love.
If this woman was coming for her, Piper had a somewhat fatalistic view about her ability, anyone’sability, to correct the course. Her destiny may well be to face this test, but Julian would explode in a fury were she ever to voice this notion. Therefore, she kept quiet about Edward’s intuition and docilely consented to having an armed guard shadow her every move.
She was only allowed to cut that protective cord while at the lodge. Where she and Julian had created an intimate domain separate from society, their responsibilities, the pastorthe future. They lived and loved in a world made of glass, a world capable of being shattered at any second.
Her mind was overflowing with thoughts of Julian that afternoon as she and Minnie left the Duke’s cottage, what everyone on the estate had come to call thestone fortress. Ashcroft had brought a modest army with him, former soldiers he’d commanded, increasing protection not only at the fortress but Harbingdon’s main gate and house. His Grace took training and weaponry seriously if the drills in the yard meant anything. She’d told Julian about the mock battles and glistening chests, and during her next visit, the men were buttoned-up like they were heading to a ball.
Controlling Ashcroft’s giftwasa challenge, as he wasn’t sure of the trigger behind starting fires. To gain any jurisdiction, he had to understand where the impulse derived from. It was a peculiar healing experience as she didn’t feel the heat, but an image of flames popped in her head every time she grasped his hands. Also, he and Piper had begun reviewing the detailed notes in his journals, the ones she and Julian had uncovered in Ashcroft House. It was tedious work, grueling at times, but he seemed comforted that he could, for the first time in his life, be honest about his situation.
As Julian advocated daily, there was strength in numbers.
If the Duke seemed lost in this strange world he’d stepped into, it was expected. Traveling from Mayfair to an Oxfordshire estate harboring orphans of the occultdidtake some getting used to. There was a new arrival each week, sometimes two, befuddled beings promptly placed in a position they were unsuited for. Consequently, Harbingdon operated like a carriage missing a wheel, with many bumps and spills. However, loyalty to Julian was absolute, as his compassion, protection, and dedication were unrelenting.
When she reached the main house, instead of going to freshen up for dinner, Piper went directly to Julian’s study. She hadn’t seen him in two agonizing days. A roof in the village had collapsed, and a group of men had volunteered to not only complete the repair but move the family to a new home.
His study door was open, but she hesitated to disturb as he stood lost in thought before the window, recording the night as it tilted from grey to black. He’d dressed in riding boots and breeches; waistcoat hanging loosely about his hips; shirtsleeves rolled high on his forearms. His hat and coat sat in a haphazard pile on the chair pulled close to his desk. Piper took him in, skin flushing as it always did when he was near.
She’d expected to quench her passion with repeated effort, but this hadn’t occurred.
She only wanted more.
Foolishly, she wanted everything.
“Are you coming in?” he asked and lifted a glass to his lips. Crystal glinted in the half-light from the sconce, reflecting off the pane and landing on the Aubusson at his feet. Across the short distance, she noted the tension holding his posture rigid. Her heart began to pound, and the words he’d whispered in bed the night before circled her mind.
You will lose this need for me. It will fade.
Making her want to weep with bewilderment. When she’d asked if his need forherwould fade, he’d replied only by making love to her in a frenzy, as if it were the last time he’d be allowed to do so.
“Ashcroft?” he asked without turning, his gaze still fixed on the somber scene outside the window.
She stepped into the room, leaving the door ajar. “Nothing burned to a crisp yet.” Her skirt did have a scorched hem, but Minnie had stamped the blaze out with her capable foot before it raced out of control.
He sipped, nodded. “Brilliant.”
She halted at his desk, bracing her fingers on polished mahogany. His aura glowed the color of the blooming daffodils in her garden, measured caution. He stood only two paces from her, yet he seemed leagues away. Her gaze circled the room, seeking answers and finding them in the leather portmanteau sitting by the desk, packed and ready for travel. “Preparing for a journey?” Her query slid out without revealing a hint of the angst knotting her stomach, though she had to curl her hands in fists to keep them from shaking.
Julian turned, wedging his shoulder against the window frame, his steely gaze raking the length of her body in a blistering perusal. His eyes were shuttered behind his spectacle lenses.